


A New Job

by deathishauntedbyhumans, humorless_hexagon



Series: Copper and Brimstone [1]
Category: Copper and Brimstone, Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Bars and Pubs, Based On a D&D Game, D&D, Dark Elf, Drow, Elves, Gen, Grey, I don't know how to tag this, Juno - Freeform, Temerity, Tieflings, Written for a Class, inn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 22:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12419553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deathishauntedbyhumans/pseuds/deathishauntedbyhumans, https://archiveofourown.org/users/humorless_hexagon/pseuds/humorless_hexagon
Summary: AU in which Juno and Temerity are the only two who were on the Bronze Dragon Express, and are the only two who meet Grey and subsequently go forth to help Dola.This is based off of the Copper and Brimstone podcast.





	A New Job

**Author's Note:**

> AU in which Juno and Temerity are the only two who were on the Bronze Dragon Express, and are the only two who meet Grey and subsequently go forth to help Dola. 
> 
> This is based off of the Copper and Brimstone podcast; Temerity is the character that I play, @humorless_hexagon plays Juno, and Grey was played by another one of our members. Dola is an NPC. I wrote this for a class assignment in which we needed to explore three characters who all didn't like the others in one way or another.

The inside of the tavern was dimly lit despite the fresh light of the morning outside. Blearily, patrons who had rented rooms to stay the night began to filter down, to find breakfast in the form of cured sausages and mugs of watered-down ale left over from the night before. Creatures from all across the city of Ashmire had gathered in the pub after the train had stopped at the station just down the road; after the near-miss with the bandits on the train the day before, nobody quite knew who to trust.

The half-demon child who had been among the motley group of creatures that had stopped the hold-up on the train watched from the seat he’d taken near the bar as conversations around him turned to the bandits, as fingers pointed behind hands towards him. At only fifteen, Temerity had been a key in the fight, and had been the first to turn away from the bodies they had left behind.

He turned his gaze to his companion, sitting across from him, a rather androgynous-looking man that seemed to be in his early thirties. Temerity had thought rather lowly of Juno since the moment they’d met while securing the job on the train; watching him shovel cured meat into his mouth now was doing nothing for that opinion.

“What?” Juno asked, blinking at Temerity, his mouth half-full of sausage.

Temerity resisted the urge to roll his eyes, huffing out a sigh instead as he absently swirled ale around the mug he’d been given.

“You would think that some people would act their age,” he responded pointedly, and Juno laughed, narrowly avoiding spraying Temerity with half-chewed meat. Temerity glared at the spray on the table in front of him.

“I know, right?” Juno took another bite, and washed it down with a sip of the beer. “Like, those people over there?” He jutted a thumb towards the barkeep, who seemed to be engaged in a hushed conversation with a confident-looking dark elf. “Get a _room_ , am I right?”

Temerity winced. Even at his best, Juno lacked any sort of social graces. Having run away from his childhood home little more than two years prior, Temerity had learned very quickly that keeping one’s mouth shut was the best way to keep from calling attention to oneself. Juno, it seemed, had never bothered to learn that particular lesson.

Temerity glanced over towards the dark elf again, who seemed to be watching them, now, his gaze intent. Making a face, Temerity turned back to his meal and attempted to take a bite of sausage that hadn’t been contaminated by Juno’s saliva.

So intent on picking at his breakfast, Temerity didn’t notice that the drow had moved until he had pulled up a chair at the head of their table and taken a seat.

“You two.” The elf’s voice was quiet and smooth, as though he’d spent years perfecting the perfect timbre. With how long Temerity knew elves could live, he didn’t doubt that that had actually been the case. “You were involved in the heist on the Bronze Dragon Express yesterday?”

“If by involved,” Temerity bit out before Juno could open their mouth. “You mean that we managed to stop it, then yes. We were involved.”

The drow’s gaze flicked from Juno to Temerity, and Temerity watched as his eyebrows flicked upwards, as though he hadn’t expected him to be the one to give an answer. Juno couldn’t be trusted to give any inkling of an accurate account of what had happened, though. Spending two minutes in Juno’s presence would convince anyone of that.

They both glanced back over at Juno when he spoke, though, sounding vaguely offended. Temerity secretly found amusement in the tone.

“We kicked those bandits’ _butts_!” he told the drow, and Temerity definitely noticed the eyebrows climbing higher. The elf glanced back towards the barkeep, brows furrowing, before opening his mouth again.

“I’m looking for a little… assistance,” he said, though he sounded as though he regretted the words as they came. “There’s been a series of strange happenings in Aikerburrow; a friend of mine has requested my assistance and, while I am well-aware that it’s a little out of the way, I doubt that I can make anything happen on my own.” He paused, but before Temerity flat-out turn him down --he seemed suspicious, and that interfered greatly with Temerity’s “keep your head down” mentality-- he added, “You would, of course, be handsomely paid for your service.”

“How much?” Juno asked, and the drow flashed them a half-smile.

“Thirty gold.”

“Each?” Juno asked, eyes going wide.

“Each,” the elf confirmed, the smile turning into a smirk.

“We’ll do it,” Juno said quickly, and Temerity made a sound of protest. Juno leaned across the table, towards the young demon, and placed their hand near their mouth as though it would prevent the elf from listening to them.

“C’mon, Te _mer_ ity.” Juno drew his name out like a whine. Every time he said it, Temerity got one step closer to clocking himself over the head with his own morning star and just putting himself out of his misery. “I need the money. What else do you have to do?”

“I--” Temerity began, but he cut himself off when he realised that he didn’t actually have a valid answer. The truth was that he _didn’t_ have anything better to do. Once they were finished here, his only plan was to head back to Ashmire and try to find another job somewhere else. He’d been wandering for years, going from this odd job to that one. Train security had only been the latest shenanigan in a long series of strange and unusual circumstances that had led him to this point, and… Well, taking a cryptic job from a weird elf wasn’t actually the worst thing he could ever remember doing. Temerity glared weakly at Juno, but shook his head and reached over to bat Juno’s hand down so that he could address the elf again.

“Fine. We’ll do it,” he told him, already loathing the way the drow’s smirk only grew at the answer.

“Wonderful.” The elf shifted, tugging out a pouch that jingled with every movement, and pulled out a handful of gold. It only took him a minute before he’d counted what he needed, and he set two small piles on the table. “Ten now, and the rest once we’ve finished the job.” He stood primly, not waiting for them to put away the gold. Temerity brushed his into one of the pouches at his hip, not missing the interested looks they were getting from other patrons of the tavern, and Juno grabbed at his own clumsily. Temerity did roll his eyes at that. He stood as well, watching the elf closely.

“Hang on. We’re going _now_? We don’t even know your name.”

The elf glanced at him, and Temerity straightened himself up to his full five-foot-two-inch height, trying to make himself as intimidating as possible. It didn’t seem to work.

“You can call me Grey.” Temerity opened his mouth to respond, but Grey had already turned away and begun walking towards the door. So Temerity closed his mouth with a click, glanced over to Juno and exchanged a look with him, and then heaved a heavy sigh and followed Grey out into the morning air with Juno trailing behind him.

\--- --- ---

The train ride to Aikerburrow was uneventful, past the normal whispering that Temerity had come to expect to follow him wherever he was. He tended to catch attention even when he kept his mouth shut, with his demonic features: red skin and purple-tinted hair didn’t exactly scream “normal.” It didn’t help that Juno had gotten into the habit of loudly conversing with everyone around them, either. Temerity caught Grey rubbing his temples at one point and exchanged a sympathetic look with him, but said nothing about it. He was being paid to be here. That didn’t mean that he wanted to make _conversation_ with the vaguely suspicious drow.

Stepping into Aikerburrow station was one of the stranger moments of the entire journey. Temerity had never been this far South before; Grey hadn’t been lying when he’d said that the trip would take them out of the way. It was cool in the station, but that wasn’t what caught Temerity’s attention first. It was--

“Are we _inside a rock?”_ Juno’s voice, loud and obnoxious, pierced the quiet hustle and bustle of the creatures around them. Grey shot him a look as others looked over at them in surprise.

“The city of Aikerburrow is located inside of a mountain,” he explained in a rushed, hushed tone. “It would do you well to remember to keep your voice _down_.” Indeed, the echo had alerted plenty to their presence, and there were several dwarves giving the demon child and the dark elf a wide berth as they continued into the station.

“Oooh… I don’t like this.” Juno shuffled closer to Temerity, reaching for his hand, and Temerity immediately smacked it away. It wasn’t the first time that Juno had sought physical comfort, nor was it the first time Temerity had forcefully denied his request. “Te _mer_ ity!” he whined.

Grey, who’d stepped in front of them, spoke without turning. “Do what he wants,” he muttered, and Temerity glared a hole in the back of his head. If looks could kill…

Was thirty gold really worth this?

“No.” Juno let out a whine at the second rejection, and Grey turned on his heel, taking a step closer to where Juno and Temerity were standing.

“What the hell is your problem?” Temerity wasn’t completely sure if the question was addressed to himself or to Juno, but he huffed haughtily and responded regardless.

“My _problem_ is that this _idiot_ ,” Temerity jerked a thumb towards Juno, who pouted back at him. “Can’t go two seconds without making a fool of himself. If you want him to be happy, maybe _you_ should hold his hand.”

Grey looked affronted at that, but Temerity raised a hand to hide a snicker as Juno’s face lit up and he strode towards Grey, holding out a hand.

“Yeah! That would be great! C’mon, Grey, just--”

“Get off of me.” Grey brushed Juno off of him as one brushes a gnat from their clothes, and Juno pouted again, glaring at Temerity as he laughed. “If you’ve forgotten, we have a job to do.”

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten,” Temerity said. Because he hadn’t. It was the only thing he’d been thinking of since they’d gotten on the train to Aikerburrow in the first place. Grey seemed to tense at the shit-eating tone of voice, which had been Temerity’s intention in the first place. “But I _am_ curious. What’s this job we’re supposed to be doing? You haven’t even told us how to go about it, yet.”

“Shut up.” Grey glared at Temerity, who grinned back at him, flashing his sharpened teeth. Grey appeared unimpressed, and Temerity dropped the smile, annoyance taking over his face. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

“What if we want to know _now?”_ Juno whined, and Grey’s glare turned to him instead. Temerity was glad that the heat of it had shifted; he got the sense that Grey wasn’t the type to mess around with someone that he didn’t like. Normally, he wouldn’t have minded such a person, but… There was just something about Grey that was entirely off-putting.

“Then you can kiss the rest of your pay goodbye,” Grey hissed angrily, and Juno shrunk back from him. Temerity coughed on a laugh and gestured dramatically.

“Lead the way then, oh fearless one,” he stated, and Grey stared at him for a moment. Temerity grinned again, and Grey rolled his eyes and turned away. Juno sidled up beside Temerity and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“I don’t think he likes me very much.”

“He’s not the only one,” Temerity whispered back, and he was satisfied to see Juno step away from him again, a deep pout set back on his face.

\--- --- ---

The unlikely trio made their way down through the winding stone staircases cut into the mountain, with Juno making it known with every step how much he disliked being inside of a giant rock. (Privately, Temerity wished that they’d lost Juno back in the station, but he kept his mouth shut at the murderous looks he caught Grey continuing to send Juno’s way. He would prefer to keep them directed at Juno and not at himself, if he had any say in it at all.) They finally reached a landing where Grey continued walking forward, instead of continuing down the narrow stairway. They came to an open stretch of cavern, with opening cut out on the sides and shop fronts set up in front of the openings.

“It’s like a rock mall!” Juno stated, and Grey shot him a look that was very obviously ignored. Temerity ducked forward, past Grey, and began to make his way into the middle of the area. It was surprisingly empty, given the way that the station had been so full. Words popped out at him, most of them written in Common: Tetlo’s Tonics, Foggy Bluff’s Armoury, Bakery. He took a step towards the closest shop, with the word _Bakery_ written in bold lettering on a sign, when he heard Grey clear his throat behind him. Temerity cast a longing glance towards the spot before turning and looking expectantly at Grey, who had an hand firmly gripping Juno’s arm and was standing in front of Tetlo’s Tonics.

“This way,” he said, and turned to drag Juno inside without another word. Temerity huffed out a breath before following along.

“Grey!” As soon as Temerity had entered the shop, he caught sight of a tiny halfling woman embracing their drow companion with a vengeance. Juno was grinning at the sight, and Temerity had to stifle a laugh. He wasn’t laughing for long, though, because the woman caught sight of him and dropped Grey in favour of embracing him as well.

“I knew you would find someone to help.” Temerity didn’t _do_ hugs. He stood stiffly as the woman embraced him, just barely resisting the urge to push her off, and then she’d let go of him and was hugging Juno just as tightly. Juno snuggled happily into the hug, and Temerity stuck his tongue out at him. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Hold on.” Temerity brushed himself off, staring pointedly at Grey. “We don’t even know what we’re doing here.”

“You haven’t told them?” The woman let go of Juno, but Juno held on until she poked him in the side. “Grey, what did you do?”

“I offered them a job, and they accepted it. End of story.” Despite the clipped tone, Grey looked uncomfortable with the way she was staring at him. She sighed, shaking her head, and then looked between Juno and Temerity.

“My name is Dola.” She shot Grey a look before continuing. “I’ve been havin’ a problem with an anthropomorphic fungus here in my shop. It’s originated in my back room, and I swear, if we don’t get it out of there, it’s goin’ to spread.”

“Anthropomorphic… what?” Juno asked, sounding incredibly confused as they rubbed at their side.

“Anthropomorphic fungus,” Dola reiterated. “A big ol’ purple mushroom with feelers that keeps attackin’ me every time I try and grab ingredients. I need you to get it outta there, kill it… I don’t care, so long as it’s gone.”

A fight. Temerity wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be expecting, but he could feel his blood boiling at the thought of hefting his weapon, of fighting the strange _things_ that Dola was describing. A slow smile spread over his face. This was going to be fun.

“Count me in,” Temerity said. In one smooth movement, he’d hefted the morning star he carried off of his back, weighing it in his hands.

Juno let out a whimper before crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess I _have_ to,” he mumbled, and then turned to Dola, opening his arms. “One last hug?”

“You sure picked an odd one,” Dola chuckled, hugging Juno again. Grey groaned.

“Don’t remind me.” He looked to Temerity, who smirked right back at him. Grey made a face. “Let’s just get this over with.” He pulled his bow off of his shoulder and tugged an arrow out of his pack. “If either of you die, I’m not lugging you back.”

Temerity snorted. “Deal.” He didn’t intend on dying. He held his morning star aloft and headed towards the door to the back room that Dola had gestured to, carefully opening the door and growing ever more excited with every passing second.

**Author's Note:**

> Temerity has a blog! @tiefling-temerity on tumblr!  
> Copper and Brimstone has a blog! @copperandbrimstone on tumblr! (Copper and Brimstone is also on Soundcloud under the same name, posted by @hullygullies)  
> Come yell about d&d with me on tumblr! @deathishauntedbyhumans
> 
> Kudos and comments are love... And if you read this story without knowing CaB, I appreciate you tenfold!


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